Title of Oral/Poster Presentation

Presenter Information

Class

Article

College

S.J. & Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources

Faculty Mentor

Trisha Atwood

Presentation Type

Poster Presentation

Abstract

Predator presence on reefs indirectly affects fishes foraging behavior. Satellite imagery has revealed “halo” patterns in vegetation growth around patch reefs in Heron Island, Australia. It is hypothesized that these patterns in vegetation are caused by predator-mediate effects on fish foraging behavior. A previous study at Heron Island and Panganng Island, Indonesia have indicated that shark presence drives these algae patterns. In my study, I investigated the major fish species responsible for creating the halo patterns in Heron Island lagoon. At three separate sites, I set three cameras at 10-meter increments from the patch reef to observe fish behavior at each distance. I analyzed the videos by quantifying the number of species foraging in the halo. These observations provide further insight into predator influence on individual fish species and the development and maintenance of algal halos.

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Predator presence on reefs indirectly affects fishes foraging behavior. Satellite imagery has revealed “halo” patterns in vegetation growth around patch reefs in Heron Island, Australia. It is hypothesized that these patterns in vegetation are caused by predator-mediate effects on fish foraging behavior. A previous study at Heron Island and Panganng Island, Indonesia have indicated that shark presence drives these algae patterns. In my study, I investigated the major fish species responsible for creating the halo patterns in Heron Island lagoon. At three separate sites, I set three cameras at 10-meter increments from the patch reef to observe fish behavior at each distance. I analyzed the videos by quantifying the number of species foraging in the halo. These observations provide further insight into predator influence on individual fish species and the development and maintenance of algal halos.